Goldfinch Update #36: Note on current events
Information on Goldfinch’s continued stability for the community
Hi Goldfinch community,
First, to get to the main point: over the past few days, we’ve received numerous requests about the Goldfinch protocol’s potential exposure to FTX and Alameda Research. The Goldfinch protocol does not have any direct exposure to FTX, Alameda Research, or any other entities in the FTX ownership group. The Goldfinch Foundation has never had an account with FTX or any of its affiliates. The Goldfinch Foundation does not engage in any crypto trading activity.
More broadly, we’re saddened by the developments in the industry over the past week. While we will not know all the facts for many months, the allegations of fraudulent activity by FTX and Alameda Research are deeply troubling and disheartening.
In addition to having no direct exposure, we are not aware of the Goldfinch protocol having any indirect exposure to FTX and, to our understanding, no Borrowers have any exposure either. This is based on the detailed data rooms they have shared providing Goldfinch’s Investors with transparency to all of their loans, which go to real-world, non-crypto-related borrowers around the world. However, we have also reached out to Borrowers on the protocol and asked them to provide written confirmation to the community in the Goldfinch Discord that they do not have exposure to FTX.
From the very beginning, the Goldfinch community has focused on Borrowers around the world focused on real-world, productive uses. We remain focused on that mission, and it’s why the protocol remains unaffected today—by focusing on the broader economy, outside the crypto space, where crypto can have a much bigger impact.
If you have any questions, please join us at this Friday’s Weekly Community AMA in the Goldfinch Discord, 11/18 at 9AM PT/12PM ET.
We are here for the Goldfinch community during this difficult time, and are excited to continue bringing real impact to DeFi with all of you in the months to come. Please read on for more resources covering how to conduct due diligence on Goldfinch’s Borrowers, along with the protocol’s performance.
👀 Resources from the Beak
There are four key ways to conduct due diligence on Borrower Pool opportunities:
Conducting research on the Borrower using both public resources and Goldfinch Borrower profiles
Reviewing the in-depth data room provided by Borrowers, accessible through the Goldfinch dapp
Joining the Borrower’s private two-way messaging channel and asking questions of the Borrower directly, or asking questions of other community members
Post-investment, joining the Borrower Communications channels to access regular reporting, investor relations, private two-way communication channels with other investors, and to continue engaging with the Borrower
Learn more in our post on resources for Goldfinch due diligence.
Real impact, insulated from volatility
Goldfinch holding steady while most protocols experience a flatline or decline in core metrics is a testament to the long-term stability of bringing real-world investment to crypto.
Learn more about why protocols bridging off-chain investment to DeFi are insulated from the volatility seen in most of crypto’s yields, and how that fits into the global macro, in Warbler Labs CIO Sam Eyob’s post on Why RWA on Goldfinch are insulated from on-chain DeFi volatility.
How to analyze Borrowers’ performance
There are a variety of resources to start analyzing the performance of Goldfinch’s Borrowers to date, including live data dashboards and portfolio profiles. Pool-level data is easily accessible, including borrower stats, financials, and team profiles. Channels are available to provide Borrower performance metrics prior to Pool launches, as well as post-close for continuous investor performance reporting. To protect Borrowers’ sensitive businesses performance information some resources are NDA or token-gated for active Investors.
Learn more about all of the resources available to evaluate Borrowers on Goldfinch, and how to access them, in our post on Analyzing Goldfinch Borrower performance.
How the Goldfinch network has expanded from launch
As one of the first DeFi protocols to bring real-world lending on-chain, Goldfinch is revolutionizing the $1T+ global private debt market by unlocking access for credit funds and fintechs. In just under two years of operation the protocol has distributed over $100M in loans with zero losses to date.
At the beginning of Q4 and following significant market turmoil over the last few months, we took a look at Goldfinch’s performance in our post on Goldfinch’s growth.
📊 Stats
Defaults in the last 30 days: 0
Repayments in the last 30 days: ~$801K USD ($801,880.43)
Protocol Revenue in the last 30 days: ~$108K USD ($108,130.91)
Total Active Loans: ~$99M USD ($99,218,936.79)
See more data on Dune
📅 Events
Today! What’s next for the landscape of tokenomics, and how does Goldfinch Membership fit in? Join our Twitter Spaces today 11/15 at 12:30 PM PT / 3:30 PM ET on the Future of Tokenomics, featuring host Taylor Dunstan of Warbler Labs with Goldfinch Co-Founders Blake West and Mike Sall of Warbler Labs, Morgan Beller of NFX, Sina Habibian of Zeitgeist, Kanyi Maqubela of Kindred Ventures, and Viktor Bunin of Coinbase Cloud. Join here.
Join Goldfinch for a LinkedIn Live to discuss Goldfinch Borrower Cauris, their perspective on the macro landscape of FinTech in the African continent, and continuing to drive growth with funding from Goldfinch. Aaron Collette of Warbler Labs will be joined by Alex Liege, CEO of Cauris, and Azer Songnaba, CFO of Cauris. Follow Goldfinch on LinkedIn to join at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET next Tuesday, November 22nd.
If you have any questions about Goldfinch’s stability or the protocol in general, please join Warbler Labs at this Friday’s Weekly Community AMA in the Goldfinch Discord, 11/18 at 9AM PT/12PM ET.
Stay tuned for upcoming events here, by following @goldfinch_fi on Twitter, or in the Goldfinch Discord.
🎱 Senior Pool / Borrower Pool Updates
Current Senior Pool APY: 13.43% combined (7.81% USDC + 5.62% GFI)**
Get real-time updates when new Backer Pools launch, and news on upcoming Borrowers, here.
The Senior Pool is automatically diversified across different Borrower Pools. Backers can invest in specific Borrower Pools, and earn an additional share of rewards for their role doing so. Pools normally close for Backer deposits within a week. Learn more here.
🗳️ Governance Proposals & Protocol Updates
Any $GFI holder can make a Goldfinch Improvement Proposal (GIP) via the process here. Voting costs nothing and happens through Snapshot.
Approved proposals awaiting Council:
GIP-28: Storm King MM Proposal
Summary: This proposal outlines an agreement for market making services, to be provided by Storm King (operating as Velar Technologies outside of the US), for the GFI token. The purpose of this proposal is to seek approval for a loan of ~1.5% of total GFI token supply that would be used by Storm King to provide liquidity for GFI tokens on two CEX’s and Uniswap v3.
GIP-28 passed Snapshot with 100% of GFI in favor.
View the proposal here to learn more.
New proposals for discussion:
Summary: GIP-29 proposes allowing Borrowers on the Goldfinch protocol to create Borrower Pools that are unitranche in nature—meaning the pools will be filled only with Backer capital, and will not require any Senior Pool capital. This means the leverage ratio on these pools will be 0x.
Motivation: Over the past few months, Goldfinch stakeholders have shown interest in introducing unitranche Borrower Pools via the protocol, driven by considerations detailed in the proposal including limited Senior Pool capital, different risk profiles, Borrower growth, and a new fundraising mechanism for the Goldfinch community.
View the proposal here to learn more.
GIP-30 - Bug bounty administration and back pay to Warbler Labs
Summary: In September 2021, the Goldfinch Community announced a $500k Bug Bounty Program through Immunefi. This program was always meant to protect the community. This proposes that the community authorizes Warbler Labs to administer the Bug Bounty program on behalf of the DAO, pre-authorizes the gov council to spend up to $500k on the program, and to cover the back pay to Warbler Labs for the bounty payouts already made.
Motivation: The security of our system remains our highest priority and in order to streamline future payments, we propose that the community delegate Warbler Labs to administer the existing Immunefi bug bounty program.
View the proposal here to learn more.
🧠 More Info
📚 Ready to start investing? Read the step-by-step guide.
💰 Considering providing capital to the protocol, but would prefer to chat with a human first? Complete the Goldfinch Capital Provider Interest Form here.
🛠️ Find job openings for a variety of roles building for Goldfinch at Warbler Labs here.
☕ Book a slot to chat with Warbler Labs team members here.
📗 Read Borrower Profiles here, and view the protocol’s pipeline of upcoming Borrower Pools here.
🐦 Follow us on Twitter, join our Discord, and see the latest governance activity on Discourse.
**Disclaimer: All APYs on Goldfinch are dynamic, and these APYs are a snapshot from 11.15.2022. The Senior Pool APY changes based on the amount of capital in, and the utilization rate of, the Senior Pool